Primary Menu

Monthly Archives: February 2010

I’m trying to recount the highlights of the past week, so excuse my grouping-everything-into-one-post laziness here. Last Saturday we were blessed with some very nice weather (22 and sunny!) so a group of us exchange students decided to check out Monkey Hill, Kam Shan Country Park, in northern Kowloon where macaques run around and attack people who feed them.

I thought it would be a nice stroll along a paved path, just with monkeys everywhere. Apparently I did not receive the memo about a 4-hour hike up and down a mountain. With a lot of stairs. And narrow pathways which were essentially cliffsides. I wore jeans and a thin sweater. Subsequently, I was sweating my ass off by mid-afternoon. Though I must say the scenic vistas made up for it.

Our first monkey encounter was when we just got off the bus. The monkeys are not scared of humans at all, so it’s quite easy to get close to them. Near the beginning of the hiking trail, our path was blocked by two monkeys having a moment, one picking bugs off the other. I wanted to observe for a bit, so I watched them. They stared back and suddenly one hissed at me. I prepared to make a run for it, and it actually grabbed my pant leg. Thankfully it let go and I jogged ahead towards our group. This didn’t really help instill confidence that I wouldn’t die a monkey-related death, but I was more preoccupied with making sure I didn’t fall off the path edge (fear of heights anyone?).

It was a friend’s birthday recently and a bunch of people were invited to her birthday party for dinner in Kennedy Town last Thursday. In total, 42 people (mostly exchange students) showed up and we spanned 4 large tables. The food was good but nothing really to rave about. Later on, a couple of us girls decided to check out the nightlife, so we headed for Fevar in Lan Kwai Fong (LKF).

I had heard a lot about LKF. The types of people that frequent it, the crazy stories, and the rumours. What I was not prepared for were the pools of people, mostly in their 20s or 30s, and a lot of businessmen, just swarming the streets. If you go to the clubbing district in Toronto, there are random spatters of club-goers lined up outside a few venues, but LKF was almost like a party on the streets.

Some basic LKF club scene facts I have amassed:

For the most part, covers range from 100-500 depending on the venue, and it’s usually open bar.

Thursdays are Ladies’ Night. Ladies get free cover in many clubs, and free open bar. Mens’ covers start at around 200+. This makes it very convenient for girls who want to go club-hopping.

Many people just wander the streets, swigging alcohol.

If you befriend the bouncers or DJs, you can get free cover and alcohol anytime.

It’s very easy to get into clubs if you have no guys in your group. Also helps if you are a group of hot girls.

The clubs have pretty good music, playing both Asian and western genres. ‘Nobody‘ comes on a lot. It’s fun, and everyone goes crazy singing/dancing to it.

The clubs are open until very late. Back home, people start emptying out around 2:30 am. We left at 4:30 am and the place was still packed.

Some basic club-goer facts I have amassed:

Most people are expatriates. LKF is the only place where you will find more foreigners than locals.

Although smoking is technically not allowed indoors, everyone does it anyways.

If there is a lack of space on the dance floor, people will just use their body to push you until you realize you aren’t even on the dance floor anymore.

The guys in the clubs are very direct. They will dance with you and try to feel you up, make out with you, or both. Sometimes they will ask before they attempt to do so. Sometimes not. They will also try to isolate you from your friends, if you were dancing in a group. These are usually the locals; the foreigner guys usually just stick with the group they came from.

A lot of girls are very willing to make out and/or go home with these guys.

There are many creepy older guys who probably make a lot of money but club frequently looking for one-night-stands and hence are creepers.

Bartenders are cute.

So those were my initial impressions. It was overall very fun, and we acquired some interesting stories to tell, so I think I’ll be making my way back there in the near future. Sorry, I forgot to snap some photos for this post. I am so behind in blogging. I swear I will try to be more diligent.